Who is Balaam? What motivates him? Why is his story even in the Bible? And are there lessons we can learn from his life? Let’s find out!
Balaam has always fascinated me. He shows up during the Israelites journey to the Promised Land with a lot of pomp and circumstance and very little information. Other than being the son of Beor (Num 22:5), I know nothing about who he is, his beliefs or even how he became so successful. What little I know about him is thanks in part to Balak, King of Moab.
You see the Israelites were in the plains of Moab and had camped across Jericho. The crowd was so large that it terrified Balak (and his subjects). They had heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites. Not only were they scared they would be next but they were concerned the Israelites would deplete all their natural resources as well. To ensure it wouldn’t happen, King Balak turns to Balaam (Num 22:4-7).
Balaam’s Reputation
There’s a lot I don’t know about Balaam but a battle hardened general or a war strategist, he isn’t. He’s a diviner. Balak must have realized he couldn’t defeat the Israelites the traditional way, so he chose an alternative route: divination. He would pay Balaam to put a curse on Isreal. Naturally that raises the question: why Balaam and not some other diviner? Surely, there were others. But what separates Balaam from the pack was his reputation. He had stellar reviews. Allegedly, blessings fell on those he blessed and curses fell on those he cursed (Num 22:6). And if you’re in the market for a diviner, that kind of guarantee is what you want. Except…I can’t help but wonder, by what authority is Balaam doing these things? He’s human. He doesn’t have any supernatural power to bless or curse anyone. So who’s enabling him?
The First Delegation
This is the part that gets a little muddled for me, when Balaam is approached by Balak’s delegation, Balaam consults with God. Not god with a lowercase g, but Yahweh, the very same God who was leading Israel. So clearly Balaam knows about the God of the Hebrews. He knew enough to consult with Him and at some level obey Him as well because Balaam does what God tells him to do. Based on this interaction, he comes across as an honorable God-fearing man. But you can’t judge a person by one interaction, you got to look at their entire life. Thankfully, there’s more to Balaam’s story to gives us a better picture of his character.
The Second Delegation
Balak refuses to take no for an answer. What does he do? He sends a second delegation. It’s even larger and filled with more distinguished people than the first one. The cream on top, he promises to compensate Balaam richly for his efforts (Num 22:15-17).
Balaam’s reaction is very interesting – bear in mind, that he already knew how God felt about Israel. God explicitly told him he wasn’t supposed to curse them. Yet, Balaam doesn’t send the second delegation away. Instead, he tells them to spend the night so he could consult God again. Just in case God had changed his mind or had something new to say (Num 22:18-19). The truth is, sometimes you want something so bad, you hear what you want to hear and birth it into existence. Balaam could not resist the wealth and prestige this opportunity presented. He wanted to go. He approaches God and once again, God spokes to him. But Balaam hears what he wants to hear.
He sees God’s answer as permission to do whatever he wanted. So he gets up early the next morning, saddles his donkey and starts off with the Moabite officials. This not only incurs God’s wrath but His punishment as well. Thanks to his faithful donkey, Balaam escapes death three times. Unfortunately, Balaam only see’s the donkey’s actions as stifling his plans and he beats the donkey each time. Miraculously, ‘…the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. (Num 22:28)’
The Donkey
Here’s another part of Balaam’s story that strikes me as odd. Other than speaking back to the donkey, Balaam had no visceral reaction to a talking donkey (Num 22:28-32). I can tell you without any shadow of doubt that if a wild animal suddenly started speaking in complete sentences, I would freak out. But Balaam seems nonplussed. He’s not shocked, frightened or even horrified. It’s curious that a talking donkey doesn’t elicit any sort of response from Balaam. Instead, he responds as if oratory animals were the norm. But I have no way of knowing.
I do know that based on everything that’s happened, Balaam should’ve been contrite – and thankful to his donkey for saving his life. Yet, he doesn’t seem repentant. He seems sulky, as evidenced by how he responded to Balak when they finally meet. He tells Balak that he can’t say whatever he wants to but can only speak the message God gives him (Num 22:36-38). It’s almost like he’s telling Balak that if he could…he would. But he can’t. His hands are tied.
Balaam’s Choice
Perhaps Balak senses Balaam’s hesitation because he tries to have Balaam curse the Israelites three times. Unfortunately instead of curses, Balaam hands out blessings each time and the third time, the Spirit of God comes upon him and he prophesies. He describes his experience as ‘the message of the man whose eyes see clearly’, ‘one who hears the words of God’, and who has seen ‘a vision from the Almighty’ (Num 24:3-4). It seems like a meaningful, life-altering encounter and yet this experience doesn’t seem to have a lasting impact on him.
Several chapters later, we find that Balaam came up with a way to curse the people of Israel without having to utter a single curse. This same man who had an encounter with God and felt the Spirit come upon him, colluded with the enemy and did exactly what God told him not to do…but in an underhanded, conniving way. Instead of putting a curse on them, he told the Moabites how they could make the Israelites bring a curse on themselves (Num 31:15-16). Essentially, advising them on how they could lead Israel to sin and incur God’s wrath. Pure evil, if you ask me. But it speaks volumes about Balaam’s character.
What I’m Learning
Balaam’s story shows us that having knowledge about God and living a life that honors Him are not the same. One can know many things about God and maybe even have a moment with God but unless we pursue the relationship, it won’t have a lasting impact on us. Balaam knew the truth about God’s plan. The Spirit of God actually came upon him (Num 24:1-9). He saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears God’s plans for the Israelites. He even spoke the appropriate words. Yet despite what he saw, heard and said, he did whatever he wanted. Clearly showing that he didn’t fear or respect God. Balaam was only in it for himself. God was a means to an end for him and nothing else. He wanted what God could offer him but he didn’t want to follow Him. He certainly had no love for Him.
The tragedy is that Balaam’s story started out so hopeful, yet it took a terrible turn. In the end, Balaam was killed by the Israelites (Num 31:8) and not even the donkey could save him that time. And that’s a lesson we can all learn from.